


Sir Nicholas The Dragon-Slayer Meets His Match

by DreamsOfSleep



Series: Sir Nicholas The Dragon-Slayer [1]
Category: New Girl
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Damsels in Distress, Dragon-Slaying Knights, F/M, moderate smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 10:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7044772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamsOfSleep/pseuds/DreamsOfSleep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Sam pays the lowly knight Sir Nicholas to "rescue" his future bride Princess Jessica during his kingdom's traditional dragon-slaying events. Sir Nicholas can't help falling in love with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Damsel in Distress

**Author's Note:**

> Hat tip to my reader Helena for the inspiration. I know you wanted a fic based on the movie "Your Highness" but Nick Miller totally felt like a knight to me, not a prince. I'll get around to watching that movie one of these days and see if I can create another fic out of it, but until then, I hope you enjoy this alternative take on the medieval genre. Happy reading!
> 
> This fic is in the style of what I call an 'extended' oneshot, not quite a oneshot and not quite a full-length multi-chapter fic, similar to what I did for my fic ["Paradise Nick and Paradise Jess Take On New Orleans"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6844933/chapters/15625048). The fic is split into chapters for easier navigation but it is intended to be read in one sitting to get the full effect.
> 
> I got some of my inspiration for this fic from the Simon R. Green fantasy novel ["Blue Moon Rising."](http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Rising-Darkwood-Simon-Green/dp/0451460553) Prince Rupert and Princess Julia kind of have that same dynamic that Nick and Jess have so I used that as a foundation for Sir Nick's and Princess Jess's character voices. It's a great book for anyone who wants to read a twist on the traditional "dragon-slaying knights rescuing princesses" genre.
> 
> Nick Miller as a knight is a really interesting character. It's like a different version of Julius Pepperwood. Pepperwood is more introverted and buttoned-up while Sir Nicholas is more devil-may-care and roguish. Sometimes people misinterpret Pepperwood's behaviors because he is an introvert and "takes a while to warm up to people" but Sir Nicholas is kind of a dick because he thinks the social norms around him are stupid and he just wants to be free to explore the world instead of stuck in that restrictive society. But both take their jobs very seriously and have a code of honor that seems to run through all the versions of Nick Miller that exist in any universe.

“Princess Jessica is in the largest cave at the top of Dragon Mountain.” Sir Nicholas repeats back to Prince Sam. “Got it, Sire.” He pockets the gold and shakes Prince Sam’s hand. 

As he rides away, Sir Nick mutters under his breath, “Rich, spoiled princes…throwing money at people to do their dirty work.” 

This is a common ritual this time of year as royal couples get engaged to be wed. Royalty take their betrothed and soon-to-be-wed daughters up to a cave on Dragon Mountain and their princely fiancés have to display their bravery by going to rescue them. All the dragons died out eons ago, but the tradition lives on. Only now, most princes just pay a knight-for-hire to go get their princesses instead of making the journey themselves. Nick thinks it no longer has the same effect, but they pay him well so he keeps his opinions to himself and his mouth shut. One wedding season is enough to net him enough gold to keep him on his adventures for another whole year, going wherever the winds of fate take him. 

\---

It takes a fortnight for Nick to make the journey from Prince Sam’s castle to Dragon Mountain. It can be slow going since he has to lead the extra horse the princess is meant to ride back down. He never bothers with his full metal armor now and just wears a leather jerkin and trousers with steel-toed riding boots. It’s a lot easier on his horse and he doesn’t have to worry about rusting up halfway up the mountain just to maintain some royal’s deluded fantasy. (It’s happened before.) Once he reaches the mountain, he takes his time riding up the familiar trail holding the reins of the other horse until he reaches the main cave. 

“Sam? Sam, is that you?” he hears the princess call out from inside the cave when she hears his horse approach. A damsel with raven hair and sky blue eyes walks out of the cave’s entrance and looks at him in confusion. She looks around him as if expecting a whole royal cavalry to be there.

”Where’s Sam?” she asks him.

“At home. I’m Sir Nicholas. You can call me Nick. Prince Sam sent me to come and get you.”

Her shoulders slump in disappointment. “I’m Princess Jess. Just call me Jess though because ‘princess’ is a demeaning term from the patriarchy and robs me of my agency.”

She just said a bunch of words he doesn’t know in a row. He blinks at her and then says, “Get your stuff and let’s go.” 

“Aren’t you at least going to fight the dragon?” she asks. She points to a sad, anemic-looking wooden model nearby, an approximation of what a dragon would look like if the carpenter who built the model were blind. 

Nick dismounts from his horse, walks over to it, and easily beheads it with his sword. “Done. Let’s go.”

She pouts, ”You’re supposed to do it dramatically…You’re not even wearing your armor.”

He gives her a look. Then he sighs and says flatly, “Oh no, Princess! It appears that I have to rescue you from that scary looking dragon. I better wear my good armor or he will burn me to a crisp with his fiery breath.”

She scowls at him. “You don’t have to be a jerk about it…If you’re not going to do it right, then don’t do it at all.” 

Nick gets back on his horse. “Let’s go already, Princess…We’re wasting daylight here. I would like to make it down this stupid mountain by nightfall.” 

\---

He finds out that she talks…a _lot_. She is a know-it-all and thinks she knows everything even though he has done this "rescue-the-princess-from-the-fake-dragon” scheme hundreds of times before. She keeps telling him to take the other path down the mountain because it looks easier. He finally has had enough. 

"Ugh…you are so annoying! Fine, you go your way and I’ll go my way.” 

Later, she finds her horse stuck in a rocky outcropping on a dead end trail. 

“Need some help?” he shouts down to her with a smirk from the easy path above her.

“Not from you…” she says petulantly. Her upper lip quivers like she is about to cry, but she sets her jaw and turns her head away from him.

He sighs and says, “Let me help you, okay? I’m sorry I was a jerk.”

He helps her get her horse back on the easy path and they continue their journey down the mountain together.


	2. You Saved My Life

They quickly make it down the mountain and into the forest. The narrow forest path forces them to dismount from their horses and walk single file holding their reins. Nick realizes it’s too quiet. There used to be birds chirping and the sound of animals scurrying around just a few feet back but now it’s dead silent, save for the crunching of leaves under their own feet. The hairs on the back of Nick’s neck stand up. 

"Wait, Jess…" he says.

She turns back to look at him and that is when the demons descend upon them. Hundreds of dark, twisted shapes with glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth crawl out of the surrounding woods and block out the light of the late afternoon sun.

Their horses get spooked and take off running down the path. The demons quickly surround Nick and Jess. Nick sees a narrow opening in the demon horde and pulls Jess through it. 

"Run," he says to her with intense eyes. He pushes her up the path that their horses escaped down. He draws his sword and stands his ground on the path behind her. He starts fighting the demons off, buying her time to escape. She starts running down the path after their horses but then she hesitates and turns back around. 

She sees the demons claw and bite at him. They start dragging him down. There are too many of them for him to fight them off all on his own. She can’t leave him.

She reaches into a hidden pocket of her dress and pulls out the magic light-producing powder her father bought for her in case she couldn’t build a fire in the drafty, open cave of the mountain. She starts throwing it at the demons. It sizzles when it hits them and they start screaming their inhuman screams. The demon horde retreats from the light and back into the shadows as if they had never existed. The late afternoon sun returns to the forest.

“You saved my life, Jess,” Nick pants out, breathing hard. He is still holding his bloody sword and looks too exhausted to sheath it. She can see he is hurt; a demon has clawed him right across his chest and he is bleeding profusely from multiple cuts on his arms and legs. 

She forces him to sit down on a nearby log and goes to retrieve their horses. She finds them grazing in a nearby meadow. When she returns, she takes out her first aid kit from the saddlebag of her horse and starts to clean his wounds and bandage him up with gentle hands. He grumbles about it but he lets her tend to him. He looks uncomfortable with the attention; she doesn’t think he has had anyone care about him in a long while. 

\---

When the late afternoon light fades into dusk, he sets up a tent and makes a fire to keep back the night. They sit outside by the fire in comfortable silence.

“Do you have a family somewhere out there, Nick?” she asks him.

He doesn’t look at her but into the flames when he responds. “Nope. Orphan.” He doesn’t elaborate.

”My father wants me to marry Prince Sam. He says he is the wealthiest and most well-connected suitor I have had, but Sam didn’t even come up here to rescue me himself.” 

“No comment,” Nick says. “Sam paid me to get you back to him and that’s what I’m doing. It doesn’t do me any good to think about the why.”

She goes inside the tent to sleep. He stands guard outside, watching the flames burn down lower and lower, waiting for the approaching dawn.


	3. Falling

Princess Jess has spent most of her life insulated within the stone walls of her family’s castle so the journey through the forest is new and exciting to her.

She likes the feel of young spring grass between her toes. 

She likes the slight chill of a spring breeze along her neck and the smell of fresh life all around her.

She likes the way the light through the trees dapples the forest floor and changes the leaves from opaque to translucent. 

She likes the sound of a babbling brook or roaring river promising the quenching of thirst after a long day’s journey.

It seems like a magical place. 

\---

One day she notices her favorite golden apples growing far out of her reach at the very top of a towering tree. Nick notices her look longingly at them and dismounts from his horse. He climbs the tree and retrieves them for her. She thinks he looks fearless and strong climbing from branch to branch with no regard for the long distance of empty space below him. It’s as if the regular rules of mere mortals don’t apply to him. He climbs back down from the tree with ease and hands the apples to her with a cocky half-smile. She smiles back at him.

\---

He likes hearing her sing. He thinks if he had to imagine what a princess’s singing voice would sound like, it would be like hers. Rich and melodious, familiar and new. He looks forward to nightfall because he knows she always sings a lullaby to herself before she goes to sleep and he gets to listen in. 

\---

She teaches him about edible berries and mushrooms, about telling direction from the moss growing on trees and the sun’s position in the sky. He is suitably impressed by her knowledge. _Smart and beautiful_ , he can’t help thinking to himself.

\---

He regales her with tales about other times he has journeyed up the mountain to rescue other princesses and about his adventures as a knight-for-hire out in the great wide world. She hangs onto his every word.

\---

He finds a special clearing in the forest and tells her to sneak in quietly with him. The clearing is lit up by the glow of a thousand fireflies. The magical white lights twinkle and dance like a million fairies have descended upon the Earth.

She reaches over to hold his hand and he lets her.

\---

One evening, they get caught in a rainstorm and have to seek shelter in a cave. 

She is soaked and he gives her some of his dry clothes. He turns away so she can change. But when he turns back to her, she is still shivering. 

“C’mere,” he says. He holds her close to him in a nest of blankets until she stops shivering. When he gets up to go stand guard outside, she says in a small voice “Stay, Nick” and he does. She cuddles back against him in the nest of blankets, wrapping his arm around herself. 

She starts to ask him to stay next to her every night and he does, curled around her, keeping her safe and warm. 

\---

A few weeks later, they stumble upon a village celebration close to nightfall. They go dancing around the bonfire, hands joined with the villagers. Her face is all flushed and full of life with the firelight throwing shadows over her cheeks and he can’t help kissing her.

She kisses him back. 


	4. I Couldn't Help It

After the kiss he makes sure he doesn’t touch her again, keeping everything professional. He’s supposed to be doing his job, not giving into his distractions.

\---

They get to a clearing with a waterfall and she decides to take a bath under the fall. Nick stands guard close by. 

He can’t help glancing back at her. He can see the ivory of her bare upper back. She wrings out water from her raven hair and her eyes meet his. 

Embarrassed to be caught looking, he turns to face the road again, away from her. 

She comes out to stand in front of him. He very carefully keeps looking at her face; she is wearing nothing but a thin robe. 

“You can look…” she says with a faint smile on her face. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Princess…” he says to her. 

“Why did you kiss me, Nick?” she asks him bluntly. 

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it…” he says looking away from her. 

She smiles again. "I wanted you to…" 

She gets closer to him and he backs away from her. “What are you doing?” he asks her tensely. 

“Why don’t you touch me anymore, Nick?” 

“I’m supposed to bring you to Prince Sam, Jess.” 

“Forget Prince Sam, Nick…Can we just pretend for one night that it’s just us?”

He swallows hard, looking into her face. She gets closer to him and he doesn’t back away this time. 

“Touch me,” she whispers to him. 

He’s hypnotized by her voice, by the pleading look in her eyes. His hands go up to cup her face and he can’t help kissing her. 

She gasps into his mouth. “Take me into the tent, Nick.” 

He picks her up and carries her into the tent, laying her down on the soft nest of blankets on the ground. She undoes her robe so she is bare before him. He’s still very carefully looking into her face. His eyes are dark and intense, burning into hers. 

She takes his hands and places them on her body. 

“Touch me,” she pleads. “I need you.”

His hands tremble but they start to travel over her form. He touches her all over just like she wanted, just like she asks him to. She arches up into his hands. She brings him close to her so she can touch him back. 

After they make love, he curls around her, bringing himself close to her just like she wanted him to ever since he stopped. 

\---

In the morning she sees him sitting at the far side of the tent not touching her, watching her from afar.

“What are you doing all the way over there?” she asks him rubbing sleep from her eyes.

His eyes are sad. “I’m sorry, Jess, I took advantage of you.” 

His words take her by surprise. “What do you mean, Nick? I wanted it to happen.” 

“You were vulnerable. You missed Sam and I was just there. I should have stopped it.” 

“No, Nick, I wanted it to happen because it was you.” 

“This can’t happen, Jess. You belong to him. I’m taking you home.” He leaves the tent. 

\---

They ride together side by side on their horses on the open forest path. She keeps wiping the corner of her eyes with her fingers where tears keep falling down her face. He can’t stand to see her cry. 

“Jess,” he says. “I don’t regret it, but you have to go with Sam. He hired me to take you to him and that’s what I’m doing.” 

“I just want to know one thing, Nick…Did it mean something to you?” 

He stops his horse in front of hers and looks at her with a serious, intense expression on his face. 

“It meant everything, Jess.”

That makes her heart soar even through her sadness. 

They continue riding along in silence. She stops crying. 


	5. Your Princess Is In Another Castle

After two long fortnights, they make it to Prince Sam’s castle.

Nick tells one of the page boys to alert Prince Sam and his court of Princess Jess’s arrival. Nick and Jess stand waiting in the courtyard.

“Well, I guess you’re going to marry Prince Sam now,” Nick says ruefully. “We had one night; it’s not like we were in love or anything.” He looks away from her.

She touches his arm to make him look back at her again. “Where will you go?” she asks him.

He gives her a crooked half smile. “Where do all heroes go after they rescue their princesses? Riding off into the sunset to another great adventure.”

A gaggle of ladies-in-waiting exit the castle and surround Princess Jess. She turns to look into Nick’s face. 

“I guess this is goodbye, Princess.” He bows to her. 

The ladies-in-waiting pull her up the castle stairs before she can say anything else to him. She looks behind her and tries to keep him in view as they drag her into the castle. He stands and watches her go until she disappears behind the castle doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Multiple meanings of the title:
> 
>   * Princess Jess isn't supposed to be Sir Nick's princess since she already belongs to Sam, thus "his" princess is meant to be found in another castle.
>   * Princess Jess is "trapped" in another castle (i.e. trapped by society's rules) when she really wants to be with Sir Nick.
>   * Just a fun old-school video game reference from Mario Brothers.
> 



	6. Romeo Visits His Juliet

She thinks she’s dreaming when she hears Nick calling her name late at night. 

_‘Jess…Jessica…’_ he whispers.

She goes to the balcony and moves the translucent curtain covering its entrance aside. She finds him standing on the exterior stone railing of the balcony; he must have climbed up the trellis to reach her. His eyes light up when he sees her. She looks like an angel bathed in moonlight. 

“You didn’t think I was going to leave without saying a proper goodbye to you, did you, Princess?” He gives her a roguish grin. 

She runs to him across the balcony and kisses him deeply like she had wanted to do when she thought she was seeing him for the last time in the courtyard. 

“Come with me, Jess,” he says breathlessly when they finally pull away from each other. 

“I can’t…” she says with anguished eyes. 

He gives her a sad smile. “I know…but I had to ask anyway.” 

He says flippantly, “If you change your mind, meet me under the oak tree in front of the castle at sunrise.” 

He knows she can’t, that she is much better off staying here in Prince Sam’s castle, but he always did become a knight to chase big dreams. 

He leans in and kisses her one last time before climbing down the trellis. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any medieval narrative pretty much demands a good balcony scene. Sir Nick would never leave without saying a proper goodbye to his princess; he is a knight after all. :) 
> 
> I had that Dire Straits' song ["Romeo and Juliet"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4MZWLoLyM) stuck in my head when I wrote this.


	7. Dawn of a New Day

He sets up camp under the oak tree in front of the castle. 

A little before sunrise someone shakes him awake. He wakes up with a start and reaches for his sword. A hand grips his wrist and a familiar voice calls his name. 

_It’s her._

She is dressed in men’s slacks and a white riding shirt. She has a sword attached to her hip.

“Take me with you,” she says breathlessly.

His face breaks into a grin of stunned amazement. He cups her face and kisses her.

“Forever and ever,” he whispers to her.

They ride off together into the horizon.


End file.
